A Bronx taxi driver thinks former Mayor Ed Koch can’t hack it as a model citizen.

The cabby, Carl Essel, was fuming mad yesterday after Koch’s bodyguard unintentionally injured a cyclist as he was getting out of a cab – and, before the cops showed up, the former mayor and his escort took off, the hack said.

“He saw the accident. He ignored it,” Essel told The Post. “I thought a former mayor would care.”

Essel, 39, said he picked up Koch and his bodyguard, identified only as Allan, at La Guardia Airport around 8 a.m. and dropped them off at 51st Street and Sixth Avenue.

When the bodyguard tried to exit the cab on the street side – a traffic violation called “dooring” – his door struck a cyclist who was traveling along Sixth Avenue.

Essel, who has been driving a yellow cab for about a year, said Koch bolted out of the cab and his bodyguard quickly paid the $35 fare.

“They left me in a real mess,” he said.

Essel said two cops parked across the street approached him to see what happened. The cyclist suffered only a few scratches.

The NYPD said no accident report was filed.

Essel, who was not issued a summons, said he is worried the incident may put the brakes on his ability to lease or drive a cab. “I have a clean driving record and I’m proud of it,” he said. “They put my driver’s license in the middle of a crisis. I want an apology.”

The Taxi and Limousine Commission said Essel will not face any sanctions in connection with the incident. City traffic law prohibits anyone in a car from exiting “from the side facing on the traveled part of the street in such a manner as to interfere with the right of the operator of an approaching vehicle or a bicycle.”

Koch, 79, said he was unaware of the accident. “I got out and said goodbye and walked into the building,” he said. “I didn’t walk away from anything. I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

Koch said whatever happened may have ensued after he was gone. “I’m not a witness,” he said. “What happened is between the cabby and the police.”

Essel said Koch was there and did nothing. “He didn’t say anything,” he said. “He walked out on me.”